So excited for this next post I'm going to be sharing with all my clients & readers. Today I get to share the behind the scenes and results of the makings of Floral creations by Stacey the head floral designer and owner from Willow Branch flowers located in Mooresville, NC.

Stacey is the sweetest and you can see she puts attention to every detail, looks over every detail twice sometimes even 3 times and more to make sure it looks up to her standard. After following her around I got to experience just a little bit of what it takes to display and create the floral designs for an event. This particular event took place for a 50th year birthday bash and some of her floral designs took many hours to make.

Meet Stacey!

When did you open Willow Branch Flowers? Why the name

I actually took over my in-laws everyday florist called County Fair Floral Designs in Huntersville in 2005. In 2009, my husband Todd and I decided that we wanted to move the business to Mooresville where we lived and felt that we had better business contacts. When we moved locations, it was the perfect time to rebrand and rename the business. At that time, I never imagined that I would one day be doing only weddings and events. In 2009, we were still an every day florist doing all types of arrangements from anniversary flowers to funerals to weddings. I loved using branches in all of my arrangements. Around the time we were searching for our new name, one of my regular customers told me that she could always pick out my arrangements when friends/family received flowers because of my signature branches and design style. So...from there, we became Willow Branch Flowers and Design.

My degree is actually in interior design and marketing. I love all things design. My inspiration color wise and style wise is always a reflection of what is happening across the design spectrum in furniture and fashion. You typically see trends in fashion that overflow to furniture and interior design which then finds its way into wedding and event design.

A tip for choosing wedding & event flowers?

A client should always choose their date, their venue, their color palette, and overall vision for the day before they meet with their florists. I believe that everything from start to finish should relate and complement each other. Flower colors should be appropriate for the time of year chosen. Red and white flowers in October will make your guests think that they have arrived at a Christmas or Valentine's Day wedding. The flowers should also be a reflection of the venue you have chosen and complement it. You don't really want to do extravagant ballroom centerpieces at a more rustic venue. Finally, you should also consider the climate/weather at the time of the event when choosing blooms. You really don't want to use all hydrangea for an outdoor wedding in June unless you want wilted flowers for your pictures.

How far in advance should they book your services?

My clients normally book my services nine months to a year and a half from their date.

Anything else you would want to share?

With every event and wedding, I give my everything. I don't strive to meet expectations but to exceed them. At the end of the day, I know that I have given them my very best.

How long did it take you to make this? How? (without revealing your secrets...)

Since we created the horse shoe form from scratch, it took me three hours to create the rose and greenery horse shoe that we placed over the fireplace mantel. The winner's blanket for the bronze horse took around four and a half hours to create. The mechanics behind the blanket actually took longer to make than placing the flowers.

Thank you Stacey for letting me tag along and the interview! For more information and to view more of Stacey's wedding floral portfolio you can visit her site here or visit www.willowbranchflowers.com